Thread-guide for sewing-machines.



No. 732,458. PATBNTED JUNE'SO, 1903.

W. H. STEDMAN. THREAD GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES.

A PPLIOATION FILED MAR. 18, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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NOQ 732,458, Patented June 30, 1903.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. STEDMAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE MERROW MACHINE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

THREAD-GUIDE FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,458, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed March 18, 1902. Serial No. 98,808. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: assembled in the machine and relatively to go.

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. STEDMAN, each other in the usual manner.

residing in the city of Hartford, county of The number 16 denotes a looper adapted Hartford, State of Connecticut, have inventto travel to and fro beneath the needleplate ed certain new and useful Improvements in 12. The looper 16 is eye-pointed, and the Thread-Guides for Sewing-Machines;andIdo eye denoted by the reference-number 16 is hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, adapted to receive the thread 17. and exact description of thesame,referencebe- The feed-dog 14 is cut away at 14*, as usual ing had to the accompanying drawings, formin this class of machines, to permit the looper I0 ing a part of this specification, and to the fig- 16 to travel therethrough. The operative or ures of reference marked thereon. toothed face of the feed-dog is thus divided This invention relates particularly to into front and rear portions 14 14, of which thread-guides and those elements or parts of the former in this present instance is sub a sewingmachine immediately associated divided by 'a groove 14, Fig. 2, extending r5 therewith, theinvention being especially aplongitudinally of the feed-dog or at right plicable to a type of machine similar to that angles to the length of the machine. Two shown and described in a former application distinct feeding-surfaces are thus provided for United States Letters Patent filed by me at the forward end of the feed-dog, which December 18, 1901, and bearing Serial No. feeding-surfacesprojectthrough openings12 20 86,440. 12 in the needle-plate 12, while a third open- The object of the invention is to provide ing 12 in the needle-plate receives the rear improved means for conducting a thread to portion 14 of the feed-dog. Any other suita movable looper having a thread-carrying able known form of feed-dog may, however, eye, to facilitate the introduction of thread be used.

2 5 through the eye of the looper, and to specially Located on the under side of the needleconstruct and arrange various parts of the plate 12, between the openings 12 12 is a rib machine which are intimately associated with or block 12, formed integrally with the plate the said looper and guides for its thread. 12 or secured thereto and extending from a In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevapoint near the forward end of the said nee- 0 tion of the needle-plate,thread-guides, looper, dle-plate to a point adjacent the path in which and feed-dog constructed in accordance with the eye-pointed end of the looper 16 travthis invention, this view also showing certain els. This block 12 is provided with a threadother elements or parts,including the presser-' passage 12 therethrough, as hereinafter defoot and in dotted lines a portion of the outscribed, and the groove 14 of the feed-dog 14 5 line of the machine-frame. Fig. 2 is a front constitutes a space for the accommodation elevation of the parts show-n in Fig. 1. Fig. of the block or rib, as shown in Fig. 2. The 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Figs. thread-passage 12 extends throughout the land 2 with the exception of thepresserlength of the block or rib 12 and preferably foot. Fig. 4isa rear elevation of the needlein a line slightly diagonal to the line of the 40 plate. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the opfeed, butmaybeparalleltherewith,ascircumerative end of the looper. stances may demand.

Like reference-figures refer to the same The needle-plate12ispreferablynotmountparts in the several figures of the drawings. ed directly upon its support 11; but there is Referring to the drawings, the number 10 interposed between the two an element 18,

45 denotes the machine-frame, 11 a support seknown as a shim. It is 'held in place by cured thereto for the needle-plate,12 the neescrews 19, passing therethrough and also servdle-plate, 13 the feed-carrier, 14 the feed-dog, ing to secure the needle-plate 12 to the supand 15 thepresser-foot adapted to cooperate port 11. The shim 18 is provided with a with the said feed-dog, said elements being groove 18 to direct the thread 17 in a wellrounded course to the before mentioned thread-passage 12, the thread usually rendering to the passage in a direction nearly at right angles thereto, as shown in Fig. 3, and to protect the thread the shim is further provided with an overhanging portion 18". Vhile the needle-plate 12 and the shim 18 are shown and described as two separate elements, the same are so constructed for convenience of manufacture only, it being obvious that the shim is practically a part of the needle-plate and may be integral therewith. It should also be noted that while the passage 12 is shown as being located in a rib formed on the needle-plate proper, which construction shows the preferred form of my invention, conditions might exist occasioned by a needle-plate of peculiar shape in which it might be preferable to locate the passage directly in the needle-plate proper, or the'said passage could be located in an integral extension of the shim.

In threading up the looper 16 the thread 17 is passed through the shim-groove 18 and the thread-passage 12 and threaded through the looper-eye 16, thus makinga convenient and direct route for the thread from the exterior of the machine through the eye of the looper. The rear end of the thread-passage 12 is closely in alinement and in proximity with the eye 16 of the looper 16 when the latter is at the extreme outward limit of its travel, so that the thread 17 is supported and guided directly to and through the eye of the looper,thereby greatly facilitating the threading operation, this arrangement being especially convenient when a threading-wire is used to introduce the thread.

To enable the looper 16 to travel beneath the needle-plate 12 in an elevated position, the said plate is preferably provided in its under face with a groove 1%, extending at right angles to the direction of the line of feed and the block or rib 12, the groove 12 being adapted to receive the eye-pointed portion of the looper in the manner best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The rearward end of the block or rib 12 preferably extends somewhat beyond the adjacent side of the groove 12 and'into proximity to the path in which the eye-pointed end of the looper travels for the purpose already explained.

. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

2. In combination, a needle-plate having a rib on its under face with a thread-passage therethrough, a support for the needle-plate, an element intermediate the needle-plate and support having a groove therein leading from its front edge to the said thread passage through which groove a thread may render freely to the passage from a direction at an angle thereto, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a needle-plate having a rib on its under face with a thread-passage therethrough, a support for the needle-plate, an element intermediate the needle-plate and support having a groove therein leading from its front edge to the thread-passage through which groove a thread may freely render to the said passage from a point at an angle thereto and the said intermediate element being further provided with a projecting portion at its front edge for the protection of the thread, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a needle-plate having feed-dog openings therein and a rib on its lower face with a thread-passage therethrough located between two of the said openings, a reciprocating looper beneath the needle-plate, a feed-dog having a portion of its feedingsurface grooved to clear the said rib, substantially as described.

5. In combination, a needle-plate having a rib on its under face with a thread-passage therethrough, a looper adapted to travel beneath the needle-plate in a path near the end of the thread-passage and a feed-dog cut away to permit of the travel of the looper and having its forward end grooved to clear the said rib and having an opening therethrough to permit of the travel of the looper, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. STEDMAN.

Witnesses:

A. W. STEWART, ALONZO M. LUTHER. 

